THE MOMENT
<!-- story-text-start --> The moon was full, and the weather was crisp as Tom arrived at the party. It was being held in a Chroma Corp. ballroom with a torchlit garden maze in the courtyard. He was a new, low-level accountant, but everyone in his branch was invited. Tom wasn't much of a Halloween guy, but he'd been pleasantly surprised by how the company ran. He'd had conversations with top-tier executives and division managers, and not once did anyone make him feel small. He was even on friendly terms with some of them, and it was enough of a change from his last job to want to engage in the company culture more. Despite his lack of interest in the Holiday, he felt entirely at ease arriving in just a simple T-shirt that read: 'werewolf on a non-full moon'.
"Do you show up to every party planning not to have any fun?" A familiar, friendly voice made him smile even before he turned to see Mindy in a werewolf costume. It was more elaborate than most 'sexy' women's costumes that consisted of animal ears and little else. She had a wolf-head mask obscuring the top of her lovely face, and she was covered with dark grey velvety fur. "It's a Halloween party, and you're not even wearing a costume," she smiled as she handed him one of the two drinks she held.
"What? It's a costume!" Tom chuckled.
"You don't even believe that," Mindy grinned and shook her head. "If you did, you probably wouldn't be wearing it." She was the closest friend he'd made since he started at Chroma Corp., and he tried not to realize she was the closest friend he had at all. His last job had been pretty miserable, and he hadn't made any acquaintances worth keeping in touch with, but Mindy was different. He felt they had some chemistry, but he wasn't in any hurry to rush things. They talked a lot, and she knew how little he was interested in the season. And she also knew she was the biggest reason he agreed to go to the party at all. It was easier to want to make changes when there was a reason to. "It's a real shame too," she added. "Maybe next year, if you're still with the company," she added.
"Unless I get fired, I'm definitely planning to be," Tom nodded. He wanted to reassure her he had no plans to leave.
"Oh, it's starting!" Mindy said it at the same moment Tom noticed a flurry of activity. Everyone turned toward a fairy hovering high in the center of the hall.
"Hey, Faela's not in costume either!" Tom didn't hesitate to point out that others seemed to lack the Halloween spirit too.
"Well, she's not going to have a costume on to cast the spell, dummy," Mindy laughed. "That'll mess her up; starting to transform halfway."
"Spell? I didn't know there was gonna be a magic show...?" Tom had only been with the company for a few months, but it was long enough to get familiar with magic and fae. He wasn't surprised, nor worried that an actual fairy was going to perform magic, but he wasn't sure how that related to the party.
"So, after repeated reminders to read the memo, you didn't actually do it, did you?" Mindy asked as she elbowed his ribs playfully.
"What? I'm here," he replied. "All I needed was the time and place."
"And some more enthusiasm wouldn't have hurt," she said.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you're all ready for an exciting evening!" Faela the fairy began speaking, her small voice amplified by a tiny microphone in her hands.
"Hey," Mindy turned to Tom and stared into his eyes. "It would've been more fun if we were both in costume. But since we're not...," she held the gaze for a moment as the Faela began chanting a spell that Tom was too entranced to care about. Her soft brown eyes changed as he watched. They became yellow, with slitted pupils. "...I want to do this before I change completely."
"Cha-" he was going to ask what she meant by change, but she lunged forward and kissed his cheek, which emptied his mind entirely.
"Meet me for breakfast tomorrow," she added before pulling away. Faela finished her chant, but Tom was focused on Mindy's transformation. Her arms elongated, and the mask enveloped her face completely as she fell to the floor. It was only as he rushed to help her that he realized most of the other party-goers were going through a similar situation.
"Ohh...," Tom wasn't stupid, but he was a bit slow in some key areas. He realized what was happening as the people around him became vampires, mummies, zombies, and sexy maids. "...man, this might've actually been fun...," He sighed as he knelt next to wolf Mindy.
"You okay?" he asked. The wolf beast was lying on the floor, and it stood up on all fours to face Tom. Then, it jumped on him.
"Ummf." Tom was surprised to suddenly find himself on his back with the wolf staring down at him. It met his eyes for a moment, then started licking his face. Then, there was a ringing bell, and the wolf jumped off him to dash outside along with the rest of the newly transformed guests. They all headed toward the garden maze as Tom stood up.
"Are you okay?" another familiar voice asked as she passed by Tom. He turned to see a full-sized cow looking at him expectantly.
"Hey, Starla," He smiled and nodded. "Doing great, just wish I'd worn an actual costume."
"There'll be a next time," the cow nodded.
"What about you?" He asked. "Why aren't you in costume?"
"That's the thing about these kinds of parties," Starla shook her head with wide swings. "Unfortunately, they often require an employee chaperone, and I drew the lucky straw tonight. You coming out to the maze?" She asked as she took a few clopping steps toward the open doors.
"Yeah," Tom nodded and started walking next to her. "I kind of want to see what I can look forward to."<!-- story-text-end -->